Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hybrid vehicle having an internal combustion engine and a motor as a vehicle driving source.
Related Art
Patent Document 1 discloses a hybrid vehicle that includes an engine, a generator capable of generating electric power by output power of the engine, a battery connected to a driving electric motor via an inverter and a cooling device having a circulation passage equipped with a radiator and an electric pump so as to circulate a coolant through the circulation passage and thereby cool the inverter by the coolant.
In the hybrid vehicle of Patent Document 1, it is conceivable that the temperature of the coolant in the circulation passage of the cooling device is raised by external heat during stop of the electric pump. In such a case, the temperature of the coolant passing through the inverter may temporarily become high when the electric motor gets actuated upon switching the vehicle control mode to a running mode. This leads to a possibility that, when the amount of heat generated by the inverter becomes large, the inverter cannot be sufficiently cooled by the coolant.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2013-154707